1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of modular portable work stations. In particular, this invention relates to a compact modular portable work station including a computer, a printer and/or another computer peripheral interconnected with one another by conductors enclosed in a shielded composite cable and routed through a docking channel having electrical connectors extending therefrom to be connected directly to the computer and at least one peripheral.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Compact portable offices containing a computer, a printer and other peripheral devices, packaged within a carrying case, have been developed and commercially available for several years. Because of space constraints, the user is often required to remove either the computer or the printer from the case before access can be gained to each. In certain situations, a printer and other conventional peripherals can not be easily packaged within the same carrying case, making it necessary for the operator to have access to an external printer and/or the other computer peripherals.
The versatility of some conventional portable offices is also limited because the computer and all of the peripherals are not always controllable from the carrying case. More particularly, external sources of power, telephone receptacles, and the like, are sometimes necessary before the office can be made fully operational. Further, some portable offices do not permit a user to selectively operate the computer and the peripherals from a readily accessible and easy to operate master control panel.
The portable work stations known to the applicant include a common shortcoming in that the cables which interconnect the computer with its peripherals are not fixed within the carrying case. Therefore, opening and closing the case is sometimes difficult and the cables often stick out between the lid and the case body, making the connections less reliable and difficult to use. Moreover, the cables are typically not shielded, making the system undesirably sensitive to noise emission. Further, the hardware components within the carrying case have to be connected to many separate cables, at least one cable for each component, and time must be spent to insure that the cables and connectors are correctly mated together.
What is more, The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted the standard for safety levels of radio frequency (RF) emission from computer and communication devices, to avoid the undesirable and harmful emission of radio frequency (RF) energy as well as for protection against interference with radio communications. Therefore, to insure compliance with RF emission limits established by the government, shielded interconnect cables and shielded power cords must be employed. Moreover, cellular telephone equipment must be arranged in a separate, protective case to limit RF exposure by shielding the computer and peripheral devices from sources of RF energy.
One example of a modular portable work station is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,212,628 issued to George M. Bradbury on May 18, 1993 and assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the details of which are incorporated herein by reference and therefore will not be repeated. In this patented work station a self-contained data system is disclosed that is fully integrated with hardware conforming to the specific needs of the user while allowing for upgrade by exchange of either commercially available or custom-made devices.